


Losing Your Marbles

by miamicamiw



Category: Saiyuki Gaiden
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-23
Updated: 2011-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-27 21:26:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/300207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miamicamiw/pseuds/miamicamiw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, it takes creativity to help out the two unhappiest people in heaven.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Losing Your Marbles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Iapetus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iapetus/gifts).



Sometimes it was hard babysitting the destruction of all.

It wasn't that Kenren blamed them. Goku was the scourge of heaven and earth, despised by all who knew him, golden eyes of destruction and uncontrollable; Nataku had to deal with most of heaven thinking he was two seconds away from killing them all, dealing with a father who only cared about his existance as long as it served him.That was enough to depress anyone, and it wasn't their fault that sometimes Heaven was substantially less then a paradise. It hadn't been great for the former general either. Not everything was happy happy all the time, and sometimes it seemed like there wasn't ever a friendly face around when it was needed most. And while Konzen usually did pretty well by Goku, Kenren knew that, every now and then, everybody needed a break.

That was where he came in. Over time he'd gotten pretty good at kidnapping the two away, usually to somewhere calm and quiet and devoid of anyone else--the Divine Garden of Heaven was big enough that there was always an empty corner or three. He always brought some kind of distraction with him-food, lower worldly trinkets, anything shiny- and would let them amuse themselves and each other for a few hours. It wasn't much, but anyone would agree that it did a world of good for Goku and Nataku, and Kenren usually got a chuckle out of it to.

The only problem-and he learned it the hard way- was that it was easy to run out of things to bring. While food was usually enough to break the ice, the two couldn't just sit ad talk. Tings inevitably ended poorly, or with Kenren devicing some last minute prop to aid bonding and relaxation. The one time it hadcost him two packs of cigarettes had been enough that he'd started planning ahead. Anything to avoid having to sit a watch nicotine pyramids rise and fall. Lower world things seemed to do the trick, but while he knew more about it then some, Kenren wasn't completely versed in everything that went on outside of Heaven. And so it was, not unsuprisingly, the Great Merciful Goddess who stepped in on his behalf.

Well.On his behalf might have been a bit of an exxageration.

He'd been in the garden, smoking furiously on a cigarette and thinking furiously. Goku had spent the last few days staring at a wall, and Nataku...well, Kenren hadn't even seen him. That was sign enough that it was time for an intervention. But it had scared the life right out of him when she had walked over, plucked the cig from his fingers, and replaced it with a small, colorful glass ball.

"What the hell? Is this some kind of messed up prank?"

"Please." The godess took a drag from the stolen cigarette. "It's a marble."

"A...what?"

"A marble. Children in the lower world play with them. They come in all colors, and make noise when they hit the floor." His confusion must have shown on his ace, because she gave an exasperated sigh. "And what would happen if you dropped a couple thousand in front of Goku and Nataku?"

He let her keep the cigarette.  
\------------_____________----------------______________-_---------------__________

Of course, there was one little problem with that grand plan. He'd thought cigarettes were hard to get into Heaven, but they were nothing compared to trying to get a hold of four thousand marbles. It had taken work, bribes, and a lot longer then he'd wanted it to by the time they were in his hands. At that point Goku was starting to show enough strain that even Konzen noticed, and Nataku had developed a somewhat frightening twitch in his left eye.

Unless he missed his mark, they were both very glad to see him.

The garden was a fragrant as ever-enough to make him gag- and the first thing he did was happily enjoy a smoke while Goku and Nataku investigated (read:devoured) the food he had brought. He waited until there was nothing but the dry end of the cig in his mouth and the two were all but licking their bentos before he acted. The box had been under his arm, and he only paused long enough to remove the handkerchief from inside-to keep them from rattling around too much- before dumping the whole thing upside down in front of them.

At first, he'd thought it was a terrible idea. Both of them had jumped, looking in around in something akin to panic.Kenren was about to intervene when one of the marbes-a clear one with a twist of blue inside- caught the light. Goku grabbed for it, and that was the beginning of the end. It took several hours for them to collect every last marble-and Kenren hadn't expected them to travel quite as far as they had-, and then the comparison started. Whose blue collection was better, how many textured ones did you have, wil you trade a green one for two red ones? Kenren lost track of how long it was before they seemed to grow even a little bit tired of the marbles. At that point he'd subtly hinted that they put them up, and save some marble action for a later date. This idea seemed well accepted, and all departed happy.

And if Kenren discovered later that Tenpou could handle any mess except thousands of marbles rolling along the floor, and that the threat of said marbles were the only things that could make the dark haired man straighten up....well.

That was a bonus.

\------------_____________----------------______________-_---------------__________

Centuries later, curled up in an in with only one spare room-a far too common occurence- Goku was stretching out his mat when his hand met a small object. Pulling a marble out from under the material, he stared at the small object and felt a sudden burst of deja vu.

"Hey kappa! You finally lost your marble!"


End file.
